Astorino: Cuomo’s Hole Getting Deeper

As The New York Times reports the U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s office has sent a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo warning against coaching former members of the Moreland Commission, Republican candidate for governor Rob Astorino said in a radio interview the latest revelation just proves his “Godfather” comparison.

“That’s why I made the analogy to the Godfather,” Astorino told Fred Dicker on his Talk-1300 show. “This is not a suggestion. These were basically threats to pull back the subpoenas, to issue subpoenas only to legislators, to others, and to stop investigations on his pay to play pals or political cronies.”

Astorino on Thursday reiterated his call for a special prosecutor to be appointed in order to investigate whether any state laws were broken the governor’s office sought to direct or block subpoenas from the anti-corruption panel.

The special prosecutor should be appointed by a panel of New Yorkers picked by the governor, Astorino said.

Cuomo twice this week has insisted the commission was an independent entity, pointing out that while his office provided input to the panel, the commission didn’t act on it.

But Astorino, who remains behind in both public opinion polls and fundraising, said the problems will continue to pile up for Cuomo.

“This is the big problem they all face now: Cuomo has a shovel and instead of hitting people over the head with it, he’s digging himself a deeper and deeper hole,” Astorino.

On the political side, state Democrats have blasted Astorino in TV ads for political patronage in Westchester County.

“The governor is just using the tactics that he only knows and that’s to bludgeon people,” Astorino said.